The Man in the Mirror Biblical Christian Or Cultural Christian?
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The Man in the Mirror Solving the 24 Problems Men Face Biblical Christian or Cultural Christian? Unedited Transcript Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 8:12-15, Romans 1:23 & 25, Revelation 2:2-4 & 3:15-17 Good morning, men! Welcome to Man in the Mirror Men’s Bible Study where we always have room for one more man! We have some men to welcome this morning, a couple of shout outs. The first one goes to the men at First Baptist Church of Orange Park in Orange Park, FL. 8 men who have met for a year at Penguins restaurant weekly on Mondays at 7:30am using the Video Bible Study. They are led by Mike Swartz. Secondly, the “Man in the Mirror” Baptist Bible Church of Harare, Zimbabwe. 5 men, a new group who meet at the leader’s home weekly on Mondays at 6:00pm using the Video Bible Study, and that leader is Ron Bergh. Also, we have a number of men in town this week for the Area Director Boot Camp training, which launches them into active duty, as it were. I’d like to ask the Area Directors to please stand where you are. Let’s welcome these two groups and our Area Directors with a warm Man in the Mirror welcome! Welcome guys! One, two, three, hoorah! We’re glad to have you guys here, and thank you men for joining us online as well! The series that we’re in is the Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face. This morning we’re going to talk about Biblical Christion or cultural Christian. What’s obvious when we look at this title? What’s obvious is that a lot of men today are stuck. Some of them are stuck because they have not yet experienced the freedom and the power that comes from being in Jesus Christ. Other men are stuck because they have destructive behaviors that keep dragging them back down. Other men are stuck because they have made a profession of faith in Jesus but now they’ve been stuck to their seats for 10, 15, or more years, and their lives are not progressing. Sometimes it’s because they’re just coasters, it’s really on them, but other times it’s because they’ve never been challenged deeply to walk with Christ. It’s kind of like they’ve enlisted, been issued a weapon, and never taught how to clean and shoot the weapon, so they’re not going to be of much value on the day of battle. Then there are men, of course, approximately 10% of men who have made a profession of faith in Jesus, who are leading the life of a strong Biblical Christian. The obvious thing is that none of these men want to lead the life of a luke warm cultural Christian, so how do we explain that? We’re going to look at three questions this morning. The first one is why are there so many cultural Christians and why are there not more Biblical Christians? Why are there so few Biblical Christians? How do men get stuck and then what do we do as a group to help these men? So let’s get started. Why are there so few Biblical Christians? First up, why are there so few Biblical Christians? You should be at Matthew 28:18, and this is the text we know as the Great Commission. So guys, it was always going to be hard. Did you know that? It was always going to be hard. It is through many sufferings that we enter the kingdom of God. Now it has been granted to you not only the privilege of trusting Christ Jesus as Lord, but also suffering for him. It was always going to be hard! Now the Great Commission, the last or near last words of Jesus, he says: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will always be with you.” It was always going to be harder than you thought it was, and he’s always going to be with you! This is the system that God has set up. We have the Great Commission, go and make disciples, but it is juxtaposed over and against the principle of the parable of the sower. Turn with me to Luke 8, because this is where the opposition comes from, this is why it’s hard. Luke 8:12. Jesus has just told the parable of the sower of four soils. A farmer went out to scatter his seed and as he went along, some fell on the rocky path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on the rocky soil, and withered away when the heat came. Some fell among the thorns and the thistles and sprouted up but then withered away, did not mature. Finally, some fell on the good soil and produced a crop a hundred times what was sown. Then Jesus gives the interpretation of this parable beginning at verse 12: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they cannot believe and be saved. This is the non-Christian, or as I’ve started calling them the not-yet-Christian. The second one: 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. These are called many things throughout the ages, but they are emotional hearers. They like the idea of Christianity when they first hear it, they receive it emotionally, but they don’t really put their faith and trust in Jesus, they just get excited about all the benefits of Christianity without counting the cost, per se. That would be a cultural Christian type C. They may or may not be in church, but they have never truly and earnestly received Jesus and repented of their sins, so they have a counterfeit faith. The next verse: 14 The seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. This is the man who has made a profession of faith in Jesus, and now he’s stuck because he has not done anything to grow his faith. This is my story, this is the verse that turned my life around! I knew that there was something desperately wrong with my life! I had no idea what was going on, all I knew was that I was luke warm! All I knew was that I hated my life! I could see all these other guys around me getting these remarkable results and the joy, the peace, and contentment they had! I put my game face on and tried to pretend that I had it, and I didn’t, and I hated my life! One day I was reading this verse, and I said that’s it! That’s my life! That’s how I got stuck! That’s the cultural Christian type D, defeated. This person is a Christian but like it says in the verse they do not mature. Verse 15: 15 But the seed on the good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produces a crop. A fruitful life! Fruitful in the fruit of the spirit, the Great Commission, neighbor love, and loving God, being a Godly father and husband, whatever it is. And you know men like this! These are the Biblical Christians. So you see these four types of people that Jesus explains in this passage, the non-Christian, the cultural Christian type C for counterfeit, the cultural Christian type D for defeated, and the Biblical Christian. So Jesus is out scattering seed, and then he’s commission us to go out and scatter seed, the word of God, and some of it’s going to fall on rocky soil, some on the hard path, some in the thorns, and some in the good soil. So it was always going to be harder than you thought it was going to be! This Great Commission was always going to be harder, so why are there so few Biblical Christians? There’s a couple of Biblical reasons for you. Think about it. You had 11 men, one had already betrayed Jesus, and right before the Great Commission it says some of them doubted. So you had 11 men, many of them doubters! Think about the impact of those men! There have been thousands of movements that have come and gone. There have been many empires that have risen and crumbled, and yet here we are! According to a recent pew research consolidated study, there 2.18 billion Christians in the world today out of 6.9 billion people, so about 1/3 of the world’s population has come out of these 11, some doubtful, men that Jesus had assembled. Even in our own country we think of ourselves as a Christian country. Some debate that, but we are Christian nation.